We meet Eddie Carbone, the main character of the play, and an Italian Longshoreman who lives in the Red Hook neighbourhood, with his wife Beatrice and young niece Catherine and is respected by his community.
Eddie deeply committed to the code of his society and even gets his wife Beatrice to relate the story of what happened to Vinny Bolzano so that Catherine knows the importance of, and understand discretion.
Beatrice’s cousins Marco and Rodolfo, are welcomed by Eddie when they arrive and seek refuge as two illegal immigrants from Sicily; Eddie talks of helping them as an “honour”, something that he will be respected for in his society, confirmed by one of the dockworkers, Louis when he says,
“Believe me, Eddie, you got a lotta credit coming to you.”
Marco and Rodolfo enter the Red Hook community showing themselves to be two brothers looking for work to send back to their family abroad, however Eddie soon changes his positive attitude when Catherine is attracted to the younger brother Rodolfo. Eddie is particularly protective towards his niece because of his desire for her and it is Eddie’s reluctance to be displaced in Catherine’s affections that eventually lead him to consult Alfieri for advice which Eddie does not follow. Eddie is also suspicious of Rodolfo’s interest in Catherine, believing that he seeks to marry her in order to gain American citizenship. He betrays Marco and Rodolfo to the immigration bureau, concluding the play to end in a bloody tragedy.
The tragedy of Eddie and Marco is that both characters cannot escape the old traditions of justice and cannot relate this law to their traditional codes of honour.
In the play, Eddie goes to Alfieri for help, when he is convinced that Rodolfo does not truly love Catherine, but is frustrated that the Law cannot do anything about it. Alfieri tells him that there is nothing wrong with Rodolfo marrying Catherine. Eddie tries to tell Alfieri that he is only looking out for his niece but also, so that she doesnt go away with a man who “aint right.” Alfieri tries to be sympathetic in his answers but eventually tells him:
“ There is nothing you can do Eddie, believe me.”
Eddie sees this as unjust and is quite adamant that Rodolfo is wrongly using Catherine for his own benefits. Alfieri however, can see the situation objectively, observing that Eddie does not realise the mistake he would be making if he did betray the brothers to the immigration. The mistake being the fact that he would betray the brothers and bring the dishonour upon himself. Alfieri tries to tell Eddie that he has to let Catherine go...
“Yes, but these things have to end, Eddie thats all. The child has
to grow up and go away, and the man has to learn to forget.
Because after all, Eddie-what other way can it end? Let her go.”
After Eddie has left Alfieri, the audience is given an insight into Alfieri’s thoughts. Alfieri, through his speech to the audience on page thirty five, knows already what will happen. Alfieri predicts that something bad will happen in Eddie’s situation but reveals to the audience he is concerned that there is nothing he can do about it although he “...could see every step coming, step after step, like a dark figure walking down a hall toward a certain door.”
Eddie is still frustrated that the law cannot do anything about Rodolfo marrying Catherine for what he assumes is only citizenship (though he has no proof of it). Once again, Eddie goes to Alfieri for help but Alfieri still tries to reinforce the fact that Eddie cannot do anything and that the law cannot help him- therefore failing to help him. This time Alfieri tries to be firmer and in a tougher tone tells Eddie,
“I’m warning you-the law is nature. The law is only a word for what has a right to happen. When the law is wrong, it’s because it’s unnatural, but in this case it is natural and a river will drown you if you buck it now. Let her go. And bless her.”
Alfieri is obviously showing some signs of apprehension for Eddie in this quotation. He uses the metaphor of a river, (rather effectively) to help describe Eddie’s outcome if Eddie does not leave matters as they are. Eventually though, it is Eddie’s jealousy of Rodolfo marrying Catherine that forces him to betray the brothers to the immigration bureau.
This act of betrayal to members of his own extended family, brings about the final and bloody tragedy which Alfieri first foresaw at his first interview with Eddie which he knew he was powerless to prevent because the law could not help him. Marco has now accused Eddie of the betrayal in front of the neighbourhood saying
“That one! He killed my children! That one stole the food from my children!”
The neighbourhood knows that Eddie’s betrayal to the brothers means that he will lose any credibility he ever had. As well as this, Eddie now knows that he has lost his sense of honour and respect from the people around him in his community. In this community therefore, we can see that justice is linked with honour and respect. The danger with the law is that this community living by it’s own laws is within a city and a nation living by the Orthodox laws, so really, Eddie has the power to step outside the laws of Red Hook and telephone the Immigration Bureau and triumph by the law of the country but then suffer and perish the laws of his community. The audience sees the consequences when Eddie tries to speak to his friends and neighbours after being accused by Marco. The community has punished him in a way so that he has become a non-person which robs him of his identity as a member of that community. The justice carried out here by the Red Hook community is in fact of great importance as it aids the characters as well as the audience to see how desperate is Eddie’s need to regain the respect of his society. More than once Eddie mentions his demands for Marco to give back his “name” and is angry that Marco has been “Wipin’ the neighbourhood with my name like a dirty rag!” The society’s code of punishment is first shown in the story of Vinny Bolzano which Eddie first told Catherine. Eddie is now convinced that Marco has treated him unfairly and demands justice. Marco is also demanding justice but quotes that he “don’t understand this country” when he cannot take into view that Eddie has done nothing wrong according to the law by betraying them. The situation here being that Eddie has betrayed them according to Sicilian morality but he obeys the U.S law by handing them over a illegal immigrants which then brings about the conflict. We know that his betrayal is immoral but unfortunately Marco sees only that viewpoint of the situation, he refers back to the Sicilian code of honour when he tells Alfieri;
“In my country he would be dead now. He would not live this long.”
Marco seeks his revenge for Eddie’s betrayal but is told by Alfieri that it is not right to do it as he sees fit. Alfieri’s attempts to explain the law to Marco (and Eddie) have failed totally and it is partly this that has conducted the way to further misunderstandings. Both men demanding their individual needs for justice cannot compromise and so it has encouraged the conflict brought about in this play. Ultimately justice is evidently the main theme of the play and it is extremely important but it is just that there are different types of justice.